Chicago Tribune

27 December 2014

Thirteen percent of holiday shipping deliveries missed the mark, compared with 15% last year, Kurt Salmon retail strategist Steve Osburn explains to Chicago Tribune. Better weather this winter helped slick Santa’s sleigh, but “the big difference this year was the amount of communication,” Osburn said, with UPS and FedEx putting caps on how many packages they would accept from each retailer. Those retailers who missed deadlines were challenged by capacity at their distribution centers and lack of inventory. “If you can impress the customer that time of year, that’s a good place to spend marketing dollars,” Osburn concludes.